


An Imagination in Time

by Gigilefache



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Ill add more characters if I write more chapters with them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-20 15:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigilefache/pseuds/Gigilefache
Summary: A little girl named Heni lets her imagination run wild in her stories, making up scenarios and characters based on the people in her life. A Hat in Time is what she calls her favorite story. Unlike her stories though, her life is a lot less whimsical. Heni and Bonnie bond together as they find imagination in the strangest of places, and ask themselves what exactly the world has in store for them?This is a modern au based on the idea of Hat Kid inventing all of the events of A Hat in Time. Enjoy.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. Down with the Mafia!

"Ew, he looks like that sweaty guy who runs that bad restaurant east of the beach."

"Haha! That's because he is."

"He's the reason nobody eats down there y'know. His food smells so bad it coats the entire block!"

"It's just like him."

The girls laughed and giddily talked as they usually did on these summer evenings. The cool breeze from the nearby ocean invited itself into their giggles as the girls discussed Heni's newest story idea: A Hat in Time-Down with the Mafia!

"Do Hat and Bow Kid kick his old smelly butt?" Asked Bonnie.

"Oh, you bet! Right after they publicly humiliate him and his mafia minions on stage!"

Bonnie laughed. "Mafia minions?"

"Yeah," Heni remarked, "He's the Mafia boss! He's mean and makes everyone's lives miserable by existing in Mafia Town."

Bonnie and Heni laughed at the truthful statement as Heni started mimicking her character in an accent most on point.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you! I'm the most powerful man you will ever witness!"

Bonnie joined in as the Bow Kid character. Mimicking a hero type.

"Oh yeah? Well, I have an umbrella that shoots laser beams. Pshoo!"

"Agh!"

Bonnie picked up a stick from the ground and pretended to fire a laser from its tip. Heni flailed back in dramatics as she too picked up a couple of sticks and started swinging them around like steak knives. All the while the game continued, the girls made sounds of action and stifled laughter.

Heni was grateful to have a friend like Bonnie, even if for just the summers. She never had many friends in school, and the one she did have, turned bully. It didn't help much that her home life wasn't perfect either. All she had were her stories and characters. Fantastical scenarios about a Cook Mafia, or bird movie directors.

Whenever Bonnie joined in on Heni's stories, she only made them more interesting. Implementing aspects of her life from the city. Smelly subways with stray cats turned into a sprawling metro with cat businessmen and big train cats that drove the subway cars. Even the food was cat-themed. Bonnie loved cats, and her home nostalgia made the stories so much more interesting.

The girls were able to bond over so much. Similar tastes in food, music, imagination. Heck, even their imperfect home lives were something they could confide with each other. It was nice to have someone to relate to and cope alongside in this crazy world that was their lives.

"Mafia ball!" Heni threw an imaginary ball at Bonnie, to which she dodged and fired another imaginary laser from her "umbrella."

Heni then tripped backward over the concrete planks beneath her, laughing on the way down. Bonnie leaned down to pick up her friend.

Just then, the girls heard a loud scream from around the corner.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU PSYCHO!"

The girls snuck around and peered at the commotion. A tall, plump chef was holding a little blond girl with a mustache by her sleeve, pointing a broom at her neck when he talked in a harsh accent.

"You come around here every day and cause mischief! You break my dishes, steal my fish, bother my customers-"

"What customers?" The girl spat at the old chef. This irritated him immensely.

"Such a rude little child!"

The little squirmed blew a raspberry at the angered chef's, mocking him.

"Isn't that Mu?" Whispered Bonnie in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, it is," Heni replied in an exasperated tone.

"Should we do something?"

"What can we do? It's her fault she got caught doing something stupid. Besides I don't wanna go near him."

"Yeah, but..." Bonnie didn't like it when people got hurt, even if they were mean. She pursed her lips and asked the ultimate question.

"What would Hat and Bow Kid do?"

The girls looked at each other. What a good question.

Heni looked over to the nearby shop. There were plastic umbrellas just sitting there in a bin outside. She turned back to Bonnie with a gremlin grin.

"They would fight back with their fearsome war crimes!"

"Down with the Mafia!"

The girls screamed as loud and as long as they could, picking up two umbrellas from the nearby bin and hauling towards the chef. He Immediately dropped the Mu and swung his broom around at the attacking children.

"You little brats! I'm going to tell your parents!"

As soon as they heard that they dropped the umbrellas and ran away, hearts pounding. They ended up bumping straight into Mu as they ran from the chef.

"Ouch!"

"Oof. Sorry." Bonnie stated, lending a hand to Heni and Mu. Mu denied the gesture. 

"I'm good."

Mu looked at the girls with tired annoyance. She didn't even look back to say thank you, she just pulled her red hood up, stuck her hands in her pockets and strolled away grumbling.

"Wow, not even a thank you." Bonnie snarked.

"Yeah, don't expect one from her."

"Do you know her Heni?"

Heni sighed. "Yeah. Sadly."

"Oh. We're you friends?"

"We used to be, until..."

Heni remembered how before Bonnie, Mu was the only friend she had for a while. They would play games and pretend just like how she does with Bonnie, but the stories were different. Always about crime-fighting time travelers saving the world from bad guys. A lot of the time, it would result in messing with the smelly restaurant or covering themselves in mud pulling harmless pranks on the local conspiracy theorist. Eventually, Heni's parents were told of her behavior, and Heni was swayed on how the antics she was pulling with Mu were bad. After a while, the girls fell out. One wanted to keep having her games, while the other started showing a distaste for them. This falling-out grew to something of a petty vibe between the Mu and Heni, resulting in school arguments and fights. Heni didn't like to talk about it though. She kept it all to her stories. At least in those fights, Hat Kid won the day and everyone cheered her on for it. Hat Kid's parents didn't get angry at her for starting fights, making their days more longer and frustrating than they already were. Hat Kid didn't have parents though.

Bonnie saw the hurt in Heni's face. "Hey, it's ok. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

Heni read the space around her and realized the awkwardness she had caused.

"Oh. Sorry, I just..." She scratched behind her head. "We're just not friends."

Bonnie started kidding to lighten the mood.

"Maybe you should make her the big bad Mustache Girl."

"Heh. Maybe..."

"Yeah! She can be snarky and pushy. Always messing with the Mafia and Hat and Bow Kids' arch enemy."

Hat kid put a finger to her cheek in thought, coming out of her awkwardly depressing mood. "She always did steal my stuff without asking. Come to think of it, I gave her my watch one time and she never gave it back, even when I got a replacement, she took that too."

"She stole a timepiece."

"Make that multiple timepieces!"

"What does she do with them?"

Heni thought. "She tries to stop bad guys..." a bit too reminiscent, "but the twist is that Mustache Girl was the bad guy all along!"

Bonnie's eyes lit up. "That's a good twist!"

"Heh. Thanks."

The girls joked about the nefarious villain Mustache Girl and her role in the stories they made. They were at it for so long, joking and drawing it all out, that they didn't even notice it was getting late. It was only when they looked up and saw the stars that they realized what time it was.

"Ah boo." Bonnie sulked. "Mom's gonna be mad at me if I don't make it back to the condo soon."

"Alright." Heni sighed, feeling disappointed at the day's end. "Wanna do the same thing tomorrow?"

Playing games with a friend? "You bet!" Bonnie cheered.

As they said their goodbyes, the stars above them twinkled into the evening over the great horizon. The girls could only imagine what lies beyond their lives out there. What fantastic adventures could there be for them? Where would the future take them as they pressed forward, homebound?


	2. C.A.W.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heni is ready to sleep after a long day, but a noise coming from her room sparks some curiosity. Little does she know, the noise is curious too...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by a funny comment in the tags of one of my Tumblr posts.

Nighttime, 8:00 pm to be exact. The night air was crisp, the moon had ascended high into the sky above Royal residence.

The room surrounding her, decorated in dim glow-in-the-dark decals lit up the room like a warm night sky in the mountains, and taped photos of her imagined world hung on the walls like grand portraits. In the center was Heni Royal, tucked in nice and snug in her soft quilted blankets, holding her favorite stuffed bear.

Silence enveloped the room, and only the sound of a distant TV downstairs could be heard. Heni felt it unfair that her parents get to stay up late yet she has a strict bedtime. It didn't bother her too much though. In fact, the distant tunes helped her fall asleep.

At one point the noise sounded a bit close. To close in fact. They made an unusual sound too. A creaking noise of wood and...that wasn't the TV.

Heni opened her eyes and started to shake. She was afraid to look at her closet. She knew that it was open. She knew something had opened it. It's that stupid breeze, she thought. Besides, Heni didn't believe in monsters.

She leaned up and rubbed her tired eyes, ready to walk over at a snail's pace to shut her...locked windows.

Noticing this, Heni turned towards her closet and jumped. Her heart skipped a beat. Her closet was open, yes, but it wasn't the wind, it was something. No... Someone. Someone was in her closet.

A man's head poked out of the darkness, but all Heni could make out was his moonlight eyes and a fedora hat.

The man spoke in a tone most awkward. Each word slightly spread out almost as if to highlight them, as if all were of equal importance.

"Do you feel safe at home?"

Heni didn't know what to do. What did she say? She sat there shaking. She could scream, but what would happen then. She could run, but she could get caught. Then what? All she could do was answer his questions.

Heni nodded slowly. The man silently took note and asked her another question.

"Do you feel safe at home?"

He nodded slowly.

"Are you fed well?"

Heni nodded slowly.

"Do you trust your parents?"

What kind of question is that, she thought. Of course, I trust my parents.

Heni silently and slowly nodded her head.

The man took his mental notes.

"Mhm...I see. I see..."

The man looked directly at Heni as he slowly closed the closet door, enveloping his head into the darkness from whence it came.

"Sleep tight, young child. And do not let the bed bugs bite."

The door shut. Heni rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. Pinching herself to make sure she was just hallucinating. There was only one real way to make sure.

She leaped off her bed and slowly crept towards the closet, trying not to make any loud noises.

She put her shaky hand on the closet doorknob, and slower than the minute hand of a clock slid the closet door open. Heni shut her eyes until the whole of her closet was in plain view.

All that reside in were hanging dresses, jackets, hats, and shoes. No man had shown signs of being in the first place. There weren't even show prints in the carpet flooring. Even if he was there, where did he go?

Heni determined that she was either hallucinating or dreaming. With this knowledge, she resumed her place in her bed. Except now she was a bit on edge. She hugged her favorite teddy bear tight and listened to the downstairs TV as its whistling commercial songs pulled her to sleep.

The next day, Heni would wake up and reach into her closet to find a nice hat to wear, only to notice that a small, black crow's feather lay still and innocent on the carpet.


	3. Ghost Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stories are always better when they're told to you. Especially ghost stories, as Heni believes.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"Can you tell me a story?"

"A story?"

Heni's father was just about to leave after tucking his daughter into bed so snug she was practically immobile. He thought about her request for a minute.

"Alright, I got time. Scoot."

Luneth Royal shoved his daughter lightly to the side and tucked her under his arm.

"Once upon a time-"

"A ghost story!"

"A ghost story? Really?" Well, that was an unexpected surprise.

"Sure you won't get scared."

"You're not that scary. So no I won't."

Yikes. That was a jab straight into his reputation. Lawyers are supposed to be scary, he would have her know.

"Okay kid. Whatever you say." Heni's father cleared his throat.

"The woods are a dark and scary place. You know that, right?"

"Last week Bonnie and I played in the mud in those woods!"

"Uh-huh, well what if I told you that a ghost lived in those woods?"

"I wouldn't believe you," Heni said confidently.

"It's true! Matter of fact, I read it online, so it must be true!"

This remark made Heni giggle. Heni's father tried to remain serious as his daughter's smile warmed his heart in a way that made it almost impossible to not grin even the slightest bit.

"In fact, there are multiple ghosts in that forest. And do you know why they're there?"

Heni responded through her giggles. "No."

"It's because they're hungry."

"Hungry? For What? Ghosts don't need to eat."

"Oh, but they do. They eat souls."

"Souls?"

"Exactly." Luneth crescendoed his voice with every word like a rumble of rolling thunder.

"They search and slither among the trees, looking down on the forest for any signs of life. Then, when they spot little girls with brown hair and hats, they lure them deeper into the forest..."

Luneth raised his arms dramatically.

"Then, they come her in the middle of the forest-so deep within that if she screams, no one would hear her. They get closer, and closer, and closer. Eyes wide and stomach grumbling. Then, when the time is right..."

He swooped his daughter into a tight hug. "THEY EAT HER SOUL, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!"

Laughter enveloped the room as Heni was practically tickled to death. She pushed him off eventually, but they were both still laughing.

Heni turned to her dad, smiling like the sun. "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime, kiddo."

Luneth ruffled his daughter's hair and kissed her forehead before exiting the room.

"Good night kid."

"G'night, Dad."

As he left the room, Heni drifted off into a cozy sleep.

/////////

Heni sat at her bedroom desk, doodling away while a stack of summer reading lay beside her. She liked books, but only when she was being read to from them, and not reading them herself. She thought it was always better when someone else was telling you a story.

Heni's door swung open to invite her father's booming presence.

"Laundry!"

He invited himself in and plopped a pile of clean, unfolded clothes onto Heni's bed.

"You know you should start doing this yourself."

Heni swiveled swiftly around in her desk chair and glared at her dad.

"I do laundry."

"Well, you don't do it enough, much less most chores for that matter." He tossed an unfolded shirt from the laundry pile at Heni, blinding her vision and causing her to fall back in her seat.

"Ah!"

"You can start with that one." Heni's dad laughed.

Heni pulled the shirt down from her face. "Fine..." She quickly folded the shirt and tossed it back at her dad. "Done!"

He caught the shirt, inspected it, then tossed it back on the bed by itself. Heni waited for him to leave, but all he did was tap his foot and smirk in a way that really didn't need any elaboration. He glanced back and forth at Heni, then at the laundry, then at Heni again. Oh no, Heni thought.

She sighed and turned back to her doodling. "I'll do it later."

"Oh, you'll do it now!"

"Hey!"

Heni's dad swiped her pencil from her hands and pointed it at the pile.

"Now."

Heni pursed her lips and dragged herself over to the pile and started folding miserably.

"And after you're done that you can start cleaning the dishes."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, at least I'm not making you clean the toilets. But now that I think about it..."

"Ew, gross. I'm not doing that!"

He snapped his fingers sarcastically. "Damn, I could have really used that help."

Heni's dad walked over to her desk and peered at her work while his daughter was sulking like a soulless servant.

"Who's this guy?" He pointed at a drawing of a purple snake of sorts, with yellow eyes and sharp fangs that opened to a jack-o-lantern Esq mouth.

"The Snatcher?" Heni responded, poking her head up from her dead trance. "He's a mean old ghost lawyer who lives in the woods. He takes Hat Kid's soul and makes her do all his stupid chores."

Heni's dad read between the lines of his daughter's response and realized who exactly she based this character on.

"Huh. Neat. By the way, I realized that I do need some help with cleaning the toilets. But don't worry about that, I know just the kid that's gonna help me do it." He grinned villainously, awaiting Heni's response.

"It's me isn't it..."

"That's right! It's you!"

He patted Heni's head and waltzed out of the room like a prince at a ball. He called after her.

"And once you're done that I'll make you clean out the attic!"

"NOOOO!"

/////////////////////

Exhausted was the lightest term one could possibly use to describe the way Luneth Royal, divorce lawyer and just on the brink of the divorced father of one, was feeling right now.

Not only were his clients incredibly unbearably indecisive, but they caused him to work overtime. This only made him dread the conversation with Vanessa he would have the second he walked through the door.

Why were you working late again? It's 9:00! You shouldn't be at work for that long. Why can't you ask to come home earlier?

At least none of the questions were about talking to other women. Not that he thought about that anyway. Vanessa was always worried that because he was staying at work late, that he was secretly seeing someone else. This started fights that he wished he didn't have to be a part of, but most importantly, and painfully, he wished Heni didn't overhear them. He knew she could, and he knew it broke her heart to hear them fight. Just last week he found a handmade book in her desk drawer about a prince and queen that looked very familiar. The queen thought that the prince was cheating on her with a florist, and locked her in a cellar.

Luneth wasn't dumb. He was a lawyer for peck's sake. Earlier the day he found that drawing he had fought with Vanessa about him talking to a florist clerk, and the whole argument of "What does she have that I don't huh?"

He screamed that he felt trapped in his own home, like some type of prisoner.

He wished Heni didn't hear that. It's not something a kid should hear their father say.

He plopped down on an armchair, not even kicking off his shoes when he saw Heni poking around the corner.

"Not tonight kid. Sorry. It's been a long day."

"I know." She said. "That's why I'm gonna read to you."

"Huh?" Luneth raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"When you tell me stories, it makes me feel better. Especially after a bad day. So I'm going to read to you so maybe you can feel better."

"Huh..." well that was certainly a welcome surprise. Even though he was tired, he couldn't exactly say no, could he?

"Ok, kid. Watcha got?"

"Well, I got a couple of things." Heni held up some papers she had in her hand with colorful hand-drawn characters on them.

"Got any ghost stories?"

Her eyes lit up as she plopped herself next to her dad on the armchair. She whipped out a small handmade book and started flipping through its pages, pointing to all things of interest.

"So this is the Subcon forest. It's where the Snatcher lives."

"I remember you telling me about that one. Oh, by the way, you're going to get my mail at 5 am tomorrow."

Heni playfully elbowed his gut and continued her story.

"So the Snatcher lives in Subcon, and he's a ghost. He eats the souls of people that step in his traps, and whoever he doesn't eat, he makes them sight contracts and forces them to do all his chores for him. Then he eats their souls when they're done."

"Oof. That sounds like cruel punishment." He nodded. "That's pretty scary, kid."

"Yeah, but he's not as bad as you'd think. He's really just a Soon-dee-rey."

"What's that?"

"Well he's scary at first, and sometimes he says some pretty mean things, but he's really fun. He's a great BFF."

Luneth felt very warm once he heard that. "I think I'm starting to like this character."

"Yeah..." Heni smiled before tackling her dad with a tight hug. "BUT HES STILL GONNA EAT YOUR SOUL AAAAAGH!"

The two of them laughed. They both enjoyed times like this. Just being happy this way. It made most days seem infinitely better like all the bad stuff just disappeared. The painful arguments, long hours, physical fights, and depressing moments all seemed to melt away in the laughter as if they never existed at all.

That night, Heni wrapped herself and her dad in a blanket and slept peacefully on the armchair at his side. And he didn't mind that one bit.


End file.
